Banks allegedly involved in illicit transfer of funds abroad have already appointed eight to ten international law firms as renewed efforts get underway repatriating the stolen money, bankers said after a review meeting Tuesday.
"These firms are currently handling legal cases in foreign courts in an effort to trace and recover the money," Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) chairman Mashrur Arefin told reporters after their meeting with the new governor of Bangladesh Bank.
Efforts to bring back money allegedly laundered abroad are currently underway through international legal channels, but the process could take between three and five years due to complex legal procedures, the ABB chief said.
Representatives of the Association of Bankers, the country's apex body of banks' top executives, met Bangladesh Bank Governor Mostaqur Rahman at the BB headquarters where the issue was elaborately discussed.
According to sources, the meeting reviewed the progress of initiatives taken to recover the money smuggled overseas and discussed further steps.
Emerging from the meeting, the ABB Chairman and Managing Director of The City Bank, Mashrur Arefin, told reporters that banks accused of being involved in the illicit transfer of funds abroad had already appointed the international law firms.
He said legal experts believe that recovering laundered money through international legal procedures typically takes three to five years. However, he holds optimism that the funds could eventually be returned to the country through proper legal action.
The seasoned banker also said the central bank governor assured participants in the meeting that the process of recovering the siphoned-off money would continue.
"There is no concern that the initiative would be halted even if there is a change in government," he said.
He further states that, so far, no evidence has been found indicating that funds were laundered through The City Bank.
Banking-sector insiders believe that once the international legal processes are completed there will be a possibility of gradually bringing the laundered funds back.
Earlier in October last year, the banking regulator advised the commercial banks being involved in the illicit transfer of funds abroad to ink deal with a dozen international firms to track the laundered money before being recovered.
The firms will receive a commission only once the recovered money is brought back to Bangladesh, according to the BB sources.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com
